After
months of preparatory work, the West Side Bazaar is set to open at its expanded
location at 25 Grant St. on Nov. 27.
The
location houses 22 vendors, almost four times the size of its former site at
242 Grant St., including five of the six vendors from its current location.
Ben
Bissell, economic development coordinator for the Westminster Economic
Development Initiative, said the new location will have the space to feature a
mix of local and international vendors, which he said is important to stimulate
creative innovation.
Bonnie
Smith, board president for WEDI, said the new location will feature a full
kitchen, which is set to open in mid-December. She said there will be four vendors
that will sell specialty foods from places like Africa, Peru, Burma and China.
“I
don’t think you can get more all-over-the-world than that,” Smith said. “It’s
very exciting.”
On
Dec. 6, Smith said the Bazaar will be participating in Peace, Love and Grant, a
promotional event to get residents to shop locally.
“We
want the Bazaar to be a public face to build customer space and vitalize the
neighborhood,” Bissell said.
Bissell
said the Bazaar is a small business incubator, meant to act as a step toward
independent business ownership.
“Someone
might have a great idea, but they don’t have any capital,” he said. “So we give
them subsidized space to get them from point A to point B.” By Brian Alexander and Jennifer Waters
